


On the Edge of Paradise

by roseandheather



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-24 13:03:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6154653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseandheather/pseuds/roseandheather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times someone wondered what, exactly, was going on between Ed Harbert and Leanne Rorish, and the one time it was totally - one might even almost say 'painfully' - obvious.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On the Edge of Paradise

**1\. Neal Hudson**

He's halfway to knocking on the door when he bothers to look through the window.

 _Oh,_ he thinks, a little bit stunned.

Leanne is braced on the desk, practically nose to nose with Harbert, and she appears to be talking rapidly. Harbert has leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, his gray eyes studying Leanne with what appears to be fond amusement - an impression only aided by the small, almost adoring smile quirking the corners of his mouth.

Leanne punctuates whatever she's been saying by thumping the desk. Harbert sits upright and uncrosses his arms, raising an eyebrow and responding in what appears to be a much calmer fashion. Leanne nods grudgingly, absently tucking a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear, and worries her bottom lip, but when Harbert reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder, thumb rubbing soothingly, she softens, giving him a tiny smile of her own and reaching up to cover his hand with hers.

At that point, Neal makes himself scarce, his brain still buzzing.

 

**2\. Christa Lorenson**

She swings through the door into the locker room, her mind already on breakfast at Hector's with Neal. One quick tug and her hair comes tumbling down; she's just reached for the bottom of her scrub top when she hears faint voices. She pauses, peeking around the bank of lockers, and has to stifle a startled gasp.

Leanne either hasn't noticed her presence or has chosen to ignore it, because she's huddled in Ed Harbert's arms. He's murmuring soothingly into her ear, rubbing her back with one hand and covering the nape of her neck with the other, and her eyes are closed.

"...wasn't your fault," she can just hear Harbert say. "...best you could, and you _know_ that, Lea."

_Lea?_

Leanne nods faintly against his chest, hands fisting in his shirt, and presses more closely against him.

At that point, Christa prudently decides to change in the bathroom. As quietly as possible, she grabs her things from her locker, then leaves the room, easing the door shut behind her.

She swings by the entrance long enough to tell Neal she'll be a couple minutes late, then changes as fast as she can.

Later, at Hector's, she fills him in. He blinks, then recounts his own encounter of a few days earlier. But then he points out that they have better things to do than worry about whatever seems to be brewing between Leanne Rorish and Ed Harbert.

"Most of those things involve a bed," he quips, eyes dancing, and he raises an eyebrow.

They both eat _very_ fast after that, and Leanne Rorish doesn't come up in their (mostly non-verbal) conversation for the rest of the day.

 

**3\. Mike Leighton**

In Mike's world, there's Code Black, and then there's Code Black On Steroids.

Right now, it's the latter.

He can only remember a handful of times in his life when Angels has been this heavily slammed, and he's about to scream. He's got four second-year residents, all of whom are extremely good at what they do, and a grand total of _one_ attending at his disposal. Grace seems to be in ten places at once, but she'd need to be in a hundred to really help ease the load, and not even she can manage that.

He also has Leanne, who has ditched the white overcoat of the ER Director and is back in the thick of it, and he's immensely grateful to have her - but, like Grace, he'd need a hundred of her to really make a difference. Neal, Heather, and Campbell are working as fast as they can, but he doesn't _have_ any of them, and he's ready to tear his hair out.

"Mike!" Leanne shouts, not even looking up from her current patient. "Call Harbert!"

"Excuse me?" he wheezes, because that's the _last_ thing he expected to hear.

"He started out in ER!" she calls back. "Only level two trauma, before he went into admin, but it's better than nothing!"

For once, he shuts his mouth and does as he's told. "Do it," he says to Risa, who nods briskly and reaches for the nearest phone.

Ed Harbert arrives less than five minutes later, already rolling up his sleeves. "I've been summoned?" he says briskly.

"Even half a doctor is better than no doctor," says Leanne, a peculiar light in her eyes, but her hands never stop moving. "Now get to work!"

"I'll get you for that later," retorts Harbert, mock-threateningly, but he doesn't hesitate, plunging into the fray heedless of his crisp suit and white shirt.

It takes all of five minutes for Mike to tell Risa to stick to Harbert's side like glue - the better to keep him supplied with equipment so he doesn't have to waste time looking for it himself - and decide that, administrator or not, Ed Harbert certainly won't do any more damage than not having him here at all in a crush like this.

By the end of the night, when things have dropped back to Code Yellow, Harbert is streaked with blood and gray with fatigue, but he's grinning just a little maniacally. The water runs pink for some time as he scrubs his hands clean, and Mike watches, intrigued, as Leanne strolls up to him. "Welcome back to real medicine," she says teasingly, but there's an approving light in her eyes, and Harbert doesn't even seem to think about it as he gently bumps her shoulder with his elbow. "You did yeoman's work today," she says more seriously, and Mike blinks, because there's something in her eyes...

And whatever it is, it's in Ed Harbert's, too.

"Mike!" shouts Angus, and he has to break away from the tableau to check a patient, his mind still spinning.

Later on he sees the two of them walking to the elevator, Leanne's hand tucked in the crook of Harbert's arm. She's gesturing animatedly with her free hand, and he's smiling at her like there's no one else in the world.

Mike just wishes he knew what to make of it.

 

**4\. Angus Leighton**

"Do I really have to go to this?"

"Yes," says Malaya, adjusting the folds of her deep purple sari and giving him a remarkably unsympathetic grin.

"Oh, well," he grumbles, settling his jacket more comfortably over his shoulders. "At least I'll have the most beautiful date there."

Malaya grins brightly at him, and Angus can't help but smile. If he _has_ to make an appearance at this charity ball, he could do much worse than going arm-in-arm with his best friend.

Neal and Christa arrive next, Neal in a tuxedo and Christa in a stunning gown that looks remarkably like Cinderella's. Luminous blue tulle flows from her waist to swirl around her legs, and the blue-and-purple butterflies on the low neckline seem to make her face glow.

Neal can't take his eyes off her, and frankly, Angus doesn't blame him.

But then Christa's jaw drops. Angus looks over his shoulder to see what caused her reaction, and feels his own hit the floor just a heartbeat after hers.

Beside him, Malaya breathes, "Oh, holy mother of God."

Angus can't really blame her, because Leanne Rorish is... indescribable.

Dressed in some sort of blood-red velvet wrap dress that just hits her knees, with long sleeves and a neckline that nearly plunges to her navel, she looks absolutely nothing like the brisk, competent, brilliant doctor who has been by turns inspiration and cause for despair for nearly two years now. Instead she looks like she's just stepped off the red carpet, hair in a sleek low ponytail that doesn't have a hair out of place, and Angus wonders briefly how Hollywood hasn't already snapped her up.

Her face lights up as she turns to face Ed Harbert, who's looking at her with an expression so raw and unguarded Angus feels just a bit voyeuristic. He leans in to kiss her cheek gently and her eyes light up; she touches him gently on the face in return, then tucks her hand into the crook of his elbow.

"Are they...?" Malaya murmurs in his ear, her gaze following his, and all Angus can do is shake his head.

"Malaya, I have _no_ idea."

 

**5\. Jesse Sallander**

"You can stop pretending now, _chica._ "

"Pretending what, Mama?"

"That you're just discussing business with our CEO."

"I am discussing business," Leanne says mildly, fingers working rapidly to pin up a knot of messy curls.

"And?"

"And it's none of _your_ business, Mama."

Leanne kisses his cheek and swishes out of the room.

"Oh, Daddy," Jesse murmurs to himself. "You're about to hit the ground, and you don't even know you're falling."

 

**+1. The Entire ER, Patients Included**

"Oh my God," says Christa, and the color drains from her face.

"Christa? What is it?" Neal is at her side in an instant, wrapping one arm around her shoulders.

"There's been an explosion in Berlin," she says faintly, and points with a shaking finger at the television, where a fire is still blazing.

A few feet away, Leanne Rorish drops her charts with a clatter. "What?" she says hoarsely. " _Where?_ "

"... _gas main explosion at the Regent Hotel in Berlin,_ " says the news anchor, an obviously shaken Shepard Smith. " _The fire has blazed for sixteen hours now, with firefighters working round-the-clock to put it out. The exact number of fatalities is unknown at this time. Emergency services were at the scene within minutes..._ "

Leanne slumps against the wall, buries her face in her hands, and starts to shake. "Oh, God, not again," she whispers, and can't say anything else.

Christa and Neal shoot each other an alarmed glance and start moving. In less than a minute they've maneuvered Leanne into a chair. Christa crouches by her side, fingers on the pulse point of one wrist; Neal sits on her other side, talking softly into her ear.

"Ed's conference was at the Regent," Leanne says at last, when she's able to speak again. "I can't do this." She starts to shake, fingers clamping uselessly around Neal's hand. "I can't lose someone else I love."

"Do you love him, Leanne?" Neal asks gently, and Christa feels Leanne's pulse jump.

"I didn't know," she whispers. "Neal, I didn't know until..."

"I'm fine!" a male voice says sharply, and all three of them jerk around. "It's just scratches and superficial burns, Amy, now _where is Leanne?_ "

Ed Harbert is soot-stained and distinctly ruffled, his jacket singed and shirt torn in places. Scratches dot his face and bare forearms, the leather of his shoes is scorched in various spots on the toe, and he looks extremely annoyed.

"Ed?"

Somehow, Leanne's whisper carries the entire breadth of the ER.

"Lea," he says, and starts forward. "I'm sorry, the traffic from LAX was a _nightmare_ \- I wanted to get here before the news broke in the States - "

Unsteadily, Leanne pushes herself to her feet, shaking Neal and Christa off. "You're here," she says raggedly, "are you really..."

"Come here and find out?" The hope is clear in his voice, but she shakes her head.

"I can't move," she whispers, and covers her face with her hands.

"Okay," he says crisply, and starts pushing through the crowd until he's standing in front of her.

Tentatively she reaches out to touch his shoulder. He holds out his elbow on instinct; her hand slides down, settling into its accustomed place, and the dam breaks.

"Ed," she chokes, and then she's reaching out and he's lifting up and his arms are around her waist and her feet are off the floor, and she buries her face in the curve of his shoulder as the first, wrenching sob breaks free.

She cries herself out in his arms, careless of the audience or the black soot now staining her lab coat. She can't seem to stop shaking but he's rubbing soothing circles on her back, murmuring sweet nothings into her ear, and if nothing else, the scent of sweat and soot and singed fabric convinces her as nothing else can.

"I'm sorry," he says at last, his thumb smudging through the tears on her cheek and leaving a streak of damp soot in its place. "I should have called, Lea, but I thought I could get here before you knew a thing about it - I'd forgotten about that blasted television - "

"Marry me."

"What?" Ed whispers, stunned.

Her hair is a mess, her face is blotchy, her glasses are stained with tears, but she's beaming and radiant and Neal doesn't think she's ever looked more beautiful than in that moment.

"You were right. This is for keeps. Turns out the only thing that scares me worse than giving my heart away is losing you." She shakes her head and swipes at her cheek, and an almost hysterical laugh bubbles from her throat. "Losing you would break me either way. I know you promised you'd stop asking, so - here I am asking now. Marry me, Ed. Make a life with me, before we run out of time entirely."

Wonderingly, he shakes his head, then presses his forehead to hers. "I was going to ask you again at Christmas," he whispers, and now it's her turn to be stunned. She lets out another hitching sob, and then he's smiling, smiling so hard his face hurts. "I wasn't gonna give up on you, Lea. I'll _never_ give up on you."

She laughs until she's crying, until she's shaking, until Neal gently rescues her tearstained glasses from her face and sets them aside. "Is that a yes?" she whispers at last, hands fisting in the back of his shirt as she presses her cheek to his.

"Stubborn brat," he whispers fondly into her ear. "Do _I_ get a yes?"

"Only if I do, too," she chokes out, and the next thing he knows he's whispering 'yes' against her lips, against her temple, against lashes dark and spiky with tears.

She whispers it, too, into his mouth, into his ear, into the curve of his neck when she finally hides her face and just holds on.

Ed Harbert closes his eyes, hugs her more tightly, and sends a silent 'thank you' to the heavens.

"Does this mean the bet's a wash?" Neal inquires into the silence.

Christa elbows him, but then mutters, "Looks like it."

"No it ain't," says Jesse, strolling up beside them. "Pay up."

"What's all this?" asks Ed.

Even with Leanne still in his arms, that eyebrow is a bit frightening.

Christa sighs. "I bet that you'd ask. Neal bet that she would. And Mama..."

"Knows everything about everyone," says Jesse smugly, pocketing his winnings.

"All three of you are fired," Leanne mumbles into Ed's shoulder.

"Sweetheart," says Ed gently, "I'll just hire them back."

That's when the ambulance sirens start wailing.

Neal and Christa look at each other, look at Jesse, and start moving.

Relieved of their audience, Ed sets Leanne gently on her feet, then wipes the half-dry tears from her cheek.

"You all right?"

She beams up at him, then reaches up to gently touch his cheek. "I am now."

"Good," he murmurs, and runs a hand over her hair.

He's halfway to the elevator when she calls after him. "Ed!"

"Yes?"

Her face hurts from smiling. "I love you."

So does his. "I know."

"Ladies and gentlemen," says Jesse's voice over the rapidly escalating din, "we are in Code Black."

 

 


End file.
